The Last Sunrise
by ashehole
Summary: Vanessa has built a new life for herself out of the ashes of a past she can't remember. But even destiny cannot be forgotten, and when she finds herself in a strange relationship with someone from the past, the shadows come to play. VxZ
1. Chapter 1

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**AN: I don't know how, but the Oscars inspired me. It was during the romance movie montage. I always wanted to do a Vanessa/Zahi story ever since LP's Disney Epidemic. Originally, this was supposed to be just a oneshot, and then the Oscars occurred. Now it needs to be a whole story. :D So, as always: Read, Review, and Enjoy!**

**Title: The Last Sunrise**

**Summary: Vanessa has been fumbing through her life for the past two years, putting herself back together after the loss of her friends. She's no longer the same girl that she was when she was fifteen. Confident, mature, reserved... And crazy. That's the new Vanessa Cleveland. How else can she explain the shadows that seem to come alive when she's looking at them? When a man from her forgotten past infiltrates her new life, she'll have to face a destiny she no longer has memories of.**

**Discaimer: Nope. Don't own DotM. Not at all. Never ever. I want to own Chris, though. But you guys already know this. ;D**

It all started somewhere in the halfway mark of her seventeenth and eighteenth birthdays. Something had changed in her relationship with Michael when she turned seventeen. She was swept up in his sweet gifts of roses and candies and earrings, swept up in his breathtaking kisses and soft caresses. There was always an underlying lust factor between the two of them, and when he took her to his room, lit up in candlelight—something that had always been special to her for a reason she couldn't quite remember—and the bed was covered in the softest, reddest rose petals, she was sold.

They fell into his bed, hands and mouths mere blurs as they began to connect themselves on a higher level than they had dared pursue before. Well, not exactly. They had experimented a few times before, his thick and calloused fingers drifting along her inner thigh as it traveled to a place only herself and her parents had ever been before.

He had her pinned beneath him, his mouth hot, his hands even hotter. They pulled at one another's clothes until there was hardly anything left. He kissed. She kissed. He touched. She touched. He took a condom from his bedside table, and she panted heavily as she waited for him to unroll it over his less-than-average penis. It was supposed to be one of those great moments, wasn't it? Instead it was more like a long, fumbling kiss, lots of drool, and a few pumps before Michael spasmed and was done.

Vanessa had been hoping for more, true. But she wasn't completely idealistic. She understood that the first time usually was pretty bad. Her thighs ached, there was a sharp pain within her groin—the breaking of her hymen, obviously, as pointed out by the small spots of blood stained beneath the petals—and she was really unsatisfied by the whole affair. Still, it could only go up from the starting point, and she was optimistic that her and Michael could learn the art of sex and love through each other.

That _was_ an idealistic fantasy, one born of stupidity, "love", and the loss of her virginity to the first pretty face attached to what was quite possibly the most boring man she had ever met in her life.

--

Another year of high school rose up for the not-so perfect couple, Senior Year. She should have been living it up. Prom, graduation, her friends...

But she had no real friends. Not anymore. She couldn't remember what happened, but she knew they would never return. She hung out with Jimena every once in awhile, but something was different between the two of them. Jimena, while still being the fierce girl she had met when she was 15, was much more subdued and enlightened, and she spent most of her time in the company of Collin anyway.

There was the occasional shopping trip with Corrine and her gang—the old days of Vanessa remaining supreme as the elite of La Brea seemed to have died when she had disappeared to the circus, or some of the new stories went, even months after she came back. Sometimes, she would even see Morgan floating around, but when they saw each other and their eyes connected... There seemed to be something different between the two, and Vanessa could see the hint of truth in Morgan's eyes as she regarded her former friend, a truth that Vanessa knew nothing about, and so she didn't understand why Morgan was the way she was.

All Vanessa knew was that she had Michael, she had the band, she had her mother, and she had college applications and weekend campus visits to look forward to, not who was going to be running for Prom Queen.

"Baby," Michael cooed as he slid up behind her, his hands on her waist as he bent forward to press his lips against her cheek. He had such soft lips.

"Hi," Vanessa said in return, concentrating on the sign in front of her. "Have you seen this?"

Her boyfriend peered over her shoulder, and she caught a whiff of his familiar cologne with a lingering scent of vanilla mixed within. Michael never smelled like vanilla. Vanessa never smelled like vanilla. Corrine practically bathed in it.

She bit back a sigh, trying not to let a sense of paranoia wash over her. Michael was particularly lousy in bed, and he was not the brightest crayon in the box, but he was sweet and caring and thoughtful. Men like him didn't cheat on their beautiful, over-achieving, slightly lame girlfriends.

Right?

"Hm."

"Hm, that sounds like a good idea? Or hm, why do I care?" She asked him, her mouth twitching as she frowned, trying to expel the thoughts of him and Corrine from her mind. It wasn't possible. Sure, Vanessa wasn't the shining star of her Sophomore youth, but she was still _Vanessa._ Corrine didn't have shit on her.

"Is that what you really want to do? Go to a music school instead of college?" Michael inquired instead of giving his opinion. He wanted to know what she wanted to do.

Vanessa's eyes scanned the advertising poster again, taking in the words. Music school. She could major in singing. This was Los Angeles. Hell... Maybe she could train for Broadway or something. Wouldn't that be exciting, seeing the bright lights of New York, being cast in a show everybody wanted to see. Maybe Legally Blonde. She could see herself as Elle Woods.

"I don't know. It would be fun, don't you think? I could at least check the place out."

"Yeah. You could."

"You don't want me to, do you?" She stepped away from him, turning her back on the sign to face him. Her hands came to rest on her hips, her head tilted as she regarded him.

"I didn't say that, Vanessa."

"Well?" She pushed, knowing that he had something else to say by the look on his face.

"Just hold off on it. You'd do better in college than a music school, babe."

She snorted and turned on her heel. She contemplated storming off, but she couldn't do that. Her shoulders slumped instead as she gave the sign one last, longing look. Her voice was soft, a touch of melancholy weaving through her words. Being easily turned from something she wanted was like a knife wound to her heart, especially coming from him. In the absence of her beloved Catty, he was now her best friend, and what he thought was too important to ignore.

"Okay. Maybe you're right about it." She glanced at him over her shoulder, and her smile was bright and loving despite the twist she was experiencing in her gut.

"Of course. Come on. We're going to be late for English." He took her hand and led her away.

She didn't forget the school. Not completely. She would think about it sometimes, but Michael was right. She needed to get to college and keep her head in the books, give her lost friends the opportunities they would never get by doing it all for them instead.

"I heard that you got accepted into Brown," Jimena mentioned over lunch. She bit into her burger, her dark eyes holding onto Vanessa's blue eyes.

Vanessa nodded, nibbling on a fry as she thought of something to say to the other woman. "I did. I think I'm going to stay here, though. Go to UCLA instead."

"Why would you give up the chance to go to an Ivy League school?" Her tone was even, not close to being disappointed or incredulous that Vanessa would pass up what the school counselor was the "gateway to the rest of your life, Miss Cleveland".

"I like it here, in California. My mom is here. You are here. Michael is here. UCLA is a good school. I don't feel like I'm giving something truly amazing up," she answered honestly, and this time... She actually believed herself enough to quell the sick tightening she had felt whenever telling anyone else this.

Jimena smiled at her, accepting, loving. "I'm glad. We need to hang out more, Nessa." She took another bite of her burger, and Vanessa remained silent as she simply watched her friend chew her food. When she was done, the former gang banger continued, "I miss you."

The blonde girl frowned. Why was there such hidden mystery beneath those words? How come she didn't understand Jimena's true meaning? What had she missed?

"I miss you, too."

"So, tell me what's new. Besides the whole Brown thing."

"Well... I'm a little worried about Michael."

"What do you mean?" Jimena asked her, and Vanessa leaned forward over the table.

Her eyes darted around, making sure that nobody was looking their way as she continued to whisper, "I'm pretty sure that he's cheating on me."

"_Porque?"_ It was clear that Jimena found this news shocking from the way her eyebrows rose up on her head and how round her eyes became. "Why would you even begin to think that, _chica_? This is Michael we are speaking of here."

The girl—the woman—chuckled dryly and shook her head as she steeled herself to _finally_ make her claim out loud and to another person. At first, she struggled to find the right words. Jimena sat back and waited patiently for her friend to speak again. Vanessa licked her lips slowly. "Jimena..."

"Vanessa? What is it?"

"I'm sure that Michael is cheating on me because... I saw him making out with our drummer."

Jimena's jaw dropped. Her mouth closed. Her lips moved without sound. _Speechless_. When she found her voice, the first words she spoke to the singer were, "Your drummer is a man."

"Yes," Vanessa confirmed.

"Men have cocks, Vanessa."

"I'm aware of this, Jimena."

"You don't have a cock."

"No."

"Michael likes penis... Who knew?" Jimena said with an ironic sort of laugh. It was the type of laugh that made Vanessa cringe. Maybe she had always been too blinded by Michael's charms and lies to himself to realize what he really was.

--

Vanessa left her oldest friend that day with only one secret unburdened from her soul.

She didn't tell Jimena how she sometimes saw unnatural shadows slithering through the day in places where she was. Sometimes, she could swear that they were watching her.

She wasn't sure how Jimena would react to that kind of news, where she thought that she was going _loca_. Vanessa surely thought she was when she saw this phenomenon occur.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: I think that I will update this story every Sunday. How does that sound for you guys? :D As always, leave me reviews!**

Graduation was coming up in a few weeks.

High school would be ending.

College would be starting.

Prom was now.

Vanessa was wearing a long gown of her mother's design—she had been working on it for months and surprised her daughter with it suddenly so that she could get her exact measurements. It was floor-length with a billowing skirt and tight bodice, the color a light pink, the shade of a faint blush. She went to a salon to get her hair down in tight ringlets piled high on her head. Her makeup was done by a professional artist. She was a movie star, a goddess in silver heels. Michael picked her up in the rented limo, slipped her corsage on, and told her how amazingly beautiful she was.

They hadn't had sex in two months.

The only kiss they had shared was two weeks ago, when she tried to peck his lips in greeting and he quickly turned his head so that her mouth grazed his cheek instead.

She smiled at his compliment and told Michael that he was as equally as dashing.

Vanessa knew that the dating part of their relationship was over; they just hadn't made it official yet. She would wait for him to explain, to come out of the closet and let her know that it would all be okay because he still loved her, just not in the way she wanted to be loved.

They were sharing the limo with Corrine and the drummer—Paul, his name was—and all of her little gaggle of gossipers. Vanessa played the princess, smiling and making light conversation.

She really should have been here with her friends. With Catty... With Serena... With Tianna...

At least Jimena and Collin would be there, the only exciting perk she saw coming out of this night.

Despite her worries over her failing relationship, the dance was beautiful. So many dazzlings lights and brilliant colors, pretty girls in pretty dresses, handsome boys in fine suits. The music was pumping, the cookies were sweet, and Jimena and her danced like they were the stars. And they were, in Vanessa's eyes.

"So, do you think you will win Queen, Vanessa?" Collin asked her as he brought them their punch. She was sitting at a table with the couple while Michael disappeared to the bathroom. Jimena's eyes couldn't help but stare as Paul followed Michael out, leaving Corrine behind to dance with her army of skanks.

"It's possible, but I doubt it. I'm still surprised that both Morgan and I made the nominations," Vanessa said with a laugh. Once upon a time, she would have sworn that it would be coming down between her and Morgan. Not so much now.

"Speaking of Morgan, where is she?" Collin glanced around the dance floor, as if in hopes of catching the girl.

"I haven't seen her yet," Jimena replied, not bothering to look. Morgan wasn't their favorite person.

"Hey, guys!" A cheerful voice rang out among them, and Vanessa turned to stare up at Derek.

She smiled at him. "Derek!" She got up to greet him, wrapping her arms around his form. "Where's your date?"

"I didn't ask anyone," he laughed sheepishly as he shrugged.

"Well, then. There won't be any jealous girls waiting on the sidelines as you dance with me," Vanessa said to him, her hand dropping to his as she led him into the crowd. Derek smiled brightly at her, his hands resting on her hips as she moved them slowly to the music's beat. They spoke of their college plans over the booming noise. While she had opted to stay here, Derek was leaving to go out east. She told him that they had to keep in touch, and he agreed.

It was nice to have a guy's hands on her body again, even if it seemed to be platonic between the two friends. The song changed, the tempo slower, the lyrics romantic. She instantly stepped into him, and his arms encircled her waist to hold her close. She placed her hands on his upper arms, marveling at the muscles she didn't know he had.

"Where's Michael?" Derek leaned over, his mouth close to her ear as he whispered to her.

With a delicate shrug, she answered, "I'm not sure. He should have been back by now..."

She knew where he was, though.

Vanessa stared at Derek as they danced slowly among the other clustered couples swaying to the song. Off to her right, she could see Collin and Jimena holding on to each other, looking so much like the lovers she should have been with Michael. Isn't that how she had planned it when she was still that giddy girl going on a date with the hottest guy in school? Hadn't they both fought hard to be together, despite all the problems they seemed to have?

Were all these years a lie?

No, she didn't want to accept that. She would always love Michael. He would always love her.

"You look sad..." Derek interrupted her thoughts, and she blinked slowly as she focused back in on his face.

"Oh... I was just thinking..." She smiled softly at him, giving those tight muscles of his a squeeze.

"What about?" He was all too innocent with that goofy grin and cute face.

"Do you want to get some air?" Vanessa asked him suddenly, her body stopping as she waited for his answer. He would either tell her no, and they can resume dancing, resume their platonic friendship.

Or he would say yes... And maybe their friendship wouldn't be so black and white anymore.

"Okay."

She took him by the hand and led him away from the floor, led him out of the hotel ballroom and through the lobby filled with guests and other La Brea Seniors with their dates or friends. They walked slowly to the front doors. To be honest, she had a room key. She wasn't sure why Michael had gotten them a room. Perhaps she was completely wrong with her assumptions. Maybe he wasn't up in their room right now with another person, another body, one he wanted more than hers.

She didn't really want to check, though.

This was okay. It wasn't like she was really planning anything with Derek. She just wanted to talk to someone and feel attractive.

The night air was soft, and the smell of the ocean tickled their noses. Vanessa dropped Derek's hand as they stood off to the side of the hotel, facing the parking lot. In the nearby distance, she could hear the sounds of traffic. Behind her, she could hear the music thumping. A new song was on.

"Are you sure you're okay, Vanessa? You seem distracted," Derek mentioned, trying to get her to open up. She gave him a crooked smile.

"Michael's gay." She tilted her head at him. Derek was close to Michael. His male best friend. Did he know?

From the tilt of his lips and the heavy sigh he expelled, she knew that he did.

"How long have you known, Derek?" She couldn't bear to look at him anymore, couldn't bear for him to see how pathetic she was for not knowing, for not asking, for not letting go of her past. She glanced away, choosing to stare at the pavement.

His hands came up to touch her shoulders. He hugged her to him, his body tense. "He told me a few months ago."

"Is it Paul?"

"Yeah. But they've never had sex, Vanessa. He wouldn't do that to you."

"When is he planning on breaking up?"

"He wanted to give you this night. He said you were a princess who deserved her night."

Her forehead rested against Derek's collarbone. She should have been angry or upset. That was the normal reaction to these sort of things, right? But she was just really happy for Michael. She was glad that he found somebody, glad that he was who he was. "He's such a jerk," she muttered still.

Derek shrugged against her, not saying a word. She liked that.

"I think I'm ready to go home," she told Derek.

"What about Prom Queen? Or the after parties?" He was stroking the small of her back softly, and she arched slightly into the touch. Just enough to let him know that she was aware.

Vanessa lifted her head, glancing at him. "You can be my after party."

And so he was.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Yay, Chapter Three! Another Sunday, another update! Enjoy, my lovelies!! Review, as always.**

Vanessa woke up to Derek's arm wrapped loosely around her waist, his light snores making her smile as she pressed herself back against him, her eyes drifting shut again. An image of a man blurred in front of her tired eyes, and they snapped back open only to see nothing but the furniture of Derek's room.

She didn't go back to sleep after that, and instead, she waited with quiet fear for her prom night lover to wake up and keep her company.

She knew that what she had seen was real. It had to have been.

--

When she went home later that day—Derek had made them lunch after he woke up, and the two had hung out for awhile—Michael was waiting for her. She turned to Derek, giving him a kiss on the cheek before exiting his vehicle.

"Call me later, okay?" He said to her, and she nodded.

Boyfriend and girlfriend faced each other in silence once they were alone.

Michael sighed deeply.

Vanessa waited for him to say what he needed to.

"I'm... I'm sorry," Michael finally muttered to her, shoving his hands into his pockets. She folded her arms across her chest, leaning all her weight onto her left leg. Her head tilted to the side, and she waited for further explanation. The man looked distraught, his fingers running through his thick hair in worry. "I should have told you a long time ago, Vanessa. I shouldn't have kept the charade up, leading you on like I did."

"I wish you had said something. You made me feel..." She smiled at him, shaking her head. It didn't really matter how Michael had made her feel, because right now, she was free. "Are you happy?"

He smiled back, looking all too relieved at her now. "Yes."

"Then that's all that really matters, right?"

His embrace was so sudden, she was caught off guard. Her eyes opened wide, and her arms flew to wrap him up as well. "We can be friends?"

"We will always be friends, Michael. No matter what."

She knew it was true.

"So... Did you spend the whole night with Derek?"

A blush swept across her face, and she looked away from her friend. "Oh... I did."

"How was it?"

She laughed at his intrusive question, shaking her head. "I won't tell!"

After Michael had left, Vanessa fell onto her bed, running her thumb across the keys of her cell phone. She thought about the night before, finally pressed a few buttons, and put the phone to her ear. "Want to go out tonight?"

--

The weeks passed quickly, summer catching up faster than Vanessa had expected. She spent her days with Jimena or Michael or Derek, sometimes with any combination of the three. Most of her nights she spent with Derek. If he hadn't been moving away, she would have made what they had official. She knew that Derek wanted to, but she wasn't ready for a long distance relationship. More than that, she knew she didn't have strong enough feelings for Derek to keep him tethered to her. She liked him... Just not enough.

There were times when she was with her mother at some studio or another, or they just spent a few hours in her mother's room, talking about clothes.

Others times she was with the band that she still loved be a part of. It filled a hole in her, like she had belonged to another group before, but the idea was ridiculous. She had never really been a part of any other group, unless one counted her friends.

--

She stood outside of the school building, fondly gazing up at it. She now wished that she never let Michael talk her out of applying. It beckoned to her with a sweet and gentle voice, and she sighed. It was a lost cause now. College was the route to take, not some charming little school that would hone her singing talents. No, that was not what was in the future for pretty, pretty Vanessa.

Of course, people also assumed that her and Michael would get married and have three kids, so perhaps future plans were not all they were cracked up to be.

Turning to walk away and continue down the street, something caught her eye. She stiffened. More moving shadows, more shadows that looked more like men than some abstract vision... Perspiration sprang up on her forehead and neck, and her legs shook with indecision. Should she run and turn out looking like a complete fool... Or should she stay and possibly be attacked?

But shadow turned out to be actual flesh, and a man that she was familiar with stepped into her line of sight, sketchpad tucked under his arm, dark eyes staring at the ground as he walked. She recognized him immediately. How could any girl from La Brea not know Zahi instantly? He shuffled towards her, his stride breezy and carefree.

She found herself smiling. What had happened to him? Had he dropped out of school? She couldn't quite remember his fate, but that was alright. She didn't remember a lot sometimes, anyway. Lifting her hand, she held it in the air as a greeting while she called out his name. "Zahi!"

Immediately, his head twitched, and she saw his face, just as handsome as it had been in high school. He stopped walking, staring at her for a moment with a cool expression. She bit down on her lip, shoulders sagging for a reason she could only pinpoint as disappointment. Well, in school, it wasn't like they were really friends or anything, but still... Having your name forgotten by a hot guy was not something worth experiencing. Still, she kept her smile, of only letting it dim by a tiny margin.

"Vanessa," he finally said, returning her smile and nodding to her wave. She walked over to him, hoping that it was an invitation for a conversation. "How have you been?"

"Oh, I've been fine. Just enjoying the summer," she replied smoothly. "How about yourself?"

"The same as you," he said, his smile slipping away. She missed it, though he still looked somewhat friendly without it plastered on his lips.

Vanessa nodded, searching for something—_anything—_to say. Her lips parted, her tongue against her teeth, but Zahi spoke first.

"Are you going there in the fall?" He inclined his head towards the building she had been admiring only minutes before. Had he seen her looking up at it forlornly?

It was hard not to, but she didn't glance in the direction he indicated. She shrugged. "No."

"Why not? I've heard you sing before. You have a beautiful voice. Is that only a hobby for you, then?" Zahi sounded interested, but she felt sad at the mention. It wasn't just a hobby. She loved singing. Perhaps it just wasn't in the cards for her, not her fate, to pursue something she loved.

"You've heard me sing?" She tried changing the subject.

"Yes. You are gifted," he complimented again, and she was warmed by his words.

"Thank you," she murmured shyly. It wasn't like she wasn't told that very thing all the time, but hearing it from him in the manner that he said it... It sounded unbelievably true.

He nodded politely, glancing over his shoulder. "I would hate to end this so abruptly..."

"Oh! Sorry. I'm probably keeping you from something," she laughed softly, beating herself up inside. She should have asked him out for coffee. Something, anything.

"I'll see you around, Vanessa."

"Bye, Zahi."

She watched him leave, resisting the urge to hit herself in her head. _I'm really boy stupid..._


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: I am so, so, so sorry for the messed up updating schedule! Honest. My internet has been taken from me, but as compensation, I will give you TWO chapters. That's right. Two! The updating might be a little off until I force my internet back, but I'm sure you guys won't mind. Remember... I love you all! By the way... Sex ahead.**

Vanessa wasn't exactly sure why she had finally decided to come to Morgan's party. She had run into the girl earlier in the week on campus—Vanessa hadn't seen that one coming; not that she thought Morgan was stupid, but just always assumed with her parents' funds backing her up, she would have chosen some place better—and Morgan had decided to invite her to the "End of the Semester, Beginning of Summer" party. They smiled warily at each other, unsure of how to react around one another. It had been pretty much a year since they had really spoken to each other, and that had been at Morgan's graduation party.

"You should bring Michael!" Morgan had chirped brightly.

Vanessa wondered if that was a stab at her. Perhaps Morgan was testing her old rival. Well, she could test all she wanted to. "Okay. I'll do that. Michael has been talking about catching up with our old high school friends." She smiled at the other girl as she said it.

"How is he doing anyway?" There seemed to be more concern in her voice than actual curiosity. Concern for what happened to Vanessa during Michael's transition from the closet to the wide world?

"Gay as ever."

Morgan nodded. Yeah, they knew that wouldn't have changed. "It's nice to see that you two still talk."

"It is. I'll pass along the information. I'll see you there, Morgan."

"See you, Vanessa!"

And that had led her, Michael, and his new boyfriend Andrew to Morgan's house on a Saturday night.

"Well, you have to give it up to her. Morgan still knows how to throw a party," Michael whispered to her as they walked through the front door, immediately assaulted by the loud music and the crowd of people.

Vanessa had a flashback of prom for some reason. Not that this night would particularly end in her sleeping with a friend. She doubted there was anyone here she would really want to have sex with—though it had been awhile, and she was missing it—and she knew that Derek wouldn't be back from school for another week. Not that she planned on going that route, either. Maybe.

"That's a skill Morgan will never lose," Vanessa replied, smiling at the honesty behind her words.

"Vanessa!" Collin waved at her from a seemingly quiet corner. She lifted her hand slowly in response, her wrist twitching as she waved back. She turned to Michael and Andrew, telling them that she would catch up with them later. They nodded, and she moved over to Collin's area.

The older man wrapped his arms around Vanessa, hugging her tightly. Her arms held him in return, squeezing back. "Hey, Collin."

"Hey. Where have you been lately? Jimena and I haven't seen you in a bit."

Sometime over the summer when the girls had graduated, Jimena and Collin moved in together in a nice apartment settled snugly between his old home and hers, the ocean their neighbor. Vanessa often found herself going over there. It was the only place she ever felt truly safe and at peace.

"I'm sorry. Classes have been kicking me up and down the block. The end of this semester was a bit brutal," Vanessa told him, laughing softly. He smiled in reply, commenting on how Jimena, too, had been completely frustrated with her final exams as well.

"Where is she, anyway? She did come to the party, right?" Vanessa asked in a soft voice, glancing around her to find the older girl. She could really use a hug from her oldest girlfriend.

"No, she didn't come, I'm afraid. I actually wasn't even going to come, but you know how Morgan is. So, I'm making an appearance for a few minutes, then getting the hell out of here. Want to come with? I'm sure Jimena would love having you come over," Collin offered her, scratching the back of his neck as he did so. He either was uncomfortable here, or he was sort of hoping that Vanessa would decline the invitation.

She didn't want to be a hindrance or a burden on Collin, who clearly had his own plans for his girlfriend. "No. I'd rather stick around here. Drunken idiots, dancing, and random people making out is exactly what I need right now," she said sarcastically, a cheeky smile on her face.

He rested his hand on her bare shoulder, giving it a tight squeeze as he nodded, a smile of relief washing over his face. "And what are you planning on doing?"

"Why, when in Rome, right?"

He eyed her quizzically, but smiled nonetheless. "Don't get in too much trouble."

"Me, trouble? When have I ever been in trouble?"

He opened his mouth, grunted out a syllable, but shook his head as he quited himself. "Never, I suppose."

His words and expressions confused her, and she found herself thinking hard about them as she made her way to the "refreshments" after he left. Absently, she reached for a bottle of vodka, pouring it into a red, plastic cup. She was not a beer girl. She found the taste truly repulsive.

Actually, she really didn't like to drink too much. Things became... Too nightmarish when she was drunk. Right now, however, she wanted to lose herself in the vibe of the party, to let her stress of school wash from her, and maybe even have some guy grind up on her before she called a cab and went to her lonely home. Her mother was gone for the week, vacationing with her boyfriend.

Everyone had a new boyfriend these days.

Everyone but her.

The sharp taste of the alcohol splashed on her taste buds with cruelty, burning her throat and nose as she swallowed too much of it at once. It was hot as it traveled and settled in her stomach, but she smiled anyway.

"Trying to fit in with the crowd as well?"

She looked up, startled by the smooth voice coming from her right. Her eyebrows shot up, her mouth parting in her shock. She recognized him instantly. "Zahi!"

When was the last time she had seen or spoken to this guy? Sometime during the summer, when she had been looking forlornly out at the acting school she had been talked out of going to. Her body thrummed happily.

He still looked good. His dark hair was just a tad bit messy, his eyes bright and sharp. He had dressed casually—jeans and a green shirt—obviously uneasy with being here as well.

"Vanessa," he greeted kindly. So he had remembered her name. She had to remind him when they last spoke. Of course, it was understandable. He had been interested in Serena once upon a time. What need was there to even notice her?

--

Zahi could see that she was pleased that he said her name. He saw it in the way she changed her posture, relaxing just a bit more, her fingers no longer gripping her cup so tightly, her hip popping up as she changed the way she was standing.

"You remembered."

He hadn't forgotten. He just didn't want to make it seem like he knew more about her than she thought or knew, which he did, of course. She was the one who didn't remember that. "How could I forget such a lovely face?"

She smiled brightly at him, each of her pearly whites shining brightly at him, but she didn't blush like Morgan had when he had gently hugged her back earlier in the night. He didn't need to read minds anymore to know what Morgan wanted from him.

"I take it that you were in search of the alcohol?" Vanessa asked curiously, her head titling only a tiny bit. The shift was enough to cause her hair to come tumbling to the side of her face like thick strands of gold, covering one of her blue eyes.

He smiled back at her, reaching to brush her hair from her face and tucking it behind her ear before she could do so herself. He actually wasn't looking to get "smashed" as Morgan's other little friends seemed to be doing, but he took her drink from her hand with the intent of drinking from it.

Vanessa scoffed, her hand trembling gently as he brushed against it for her cup. Was that because of the hair thing?

She muttered no protest to him taking her drink, and instead went to make herself another one. She lifted her cup up somewhat, nodding at him with that smile of hers. "Cheers?"

"Cheers," he agreed, tapping her former drink against her new one. They lifted the cups to their mouths at the same time. They drank.

And they drank some more.

Somehow, Vanessa even got him to dance, pulling him by the arm into the crowded room. The two held on to their drinks, just moving to the music slowly. She giggled a lot, her face flushed from the alcohol warming her from the inside and the bodies on the outside. He couldn't help but smile in return. The two of them were completely off beat, but it had to have been the most fun Zahi had in a long while.

They fell against each other, stumbling into the hallway, bumping against other partiers, as they made their way outside. The air was nice on his hot face. Vanessa's hand in his was nice, too.

"Tell me," she giggled cutely, pulling him closer. He allowed it. He wasn't as drunk as she appeared to be, and at any time, he could have left her side. He just didn't feel like it.

"Tell you what?" His voice was soft, dark. She tilted her head at the sound, smiling as her pink lips formed the words.

"What have you done since leaving La Brea? I mean... One moment, you're crushing hard on Serena, next..." She hiccuped, stopping mid-sentence.

"I have been working on my art." Zahi smiled at her again, and she beamed back, naturally. He couldn't really tell her the whole truth.

Couldn't tell her how hard and lonely it was not knowing how to put his life back together. Couldn't tell her of those few, short moments when Serena would come by the cafe he usually set up shop in to say hello and make sure he was okay. Couldn't tell her about the time he met Cassandra in the park while she cried because she was angry, and hurt, and lost.

"I would like to see it."

"You would?"

She nodded. He would like that, too.

He had been expecting her to kiss him. Woman always did before, and they still did. Her mouth was hot on his, and as he got past the initial taste of vodka on her breath, he could taste her lip gloss. Sweet, kind of sugary. It smeared on his lips as they kissed. He went to lick it off, his tongue dashing across her lips as well, and he tasted more of the confection. She sighed into his mouth. Perhaps she thought that he was attempting to do something else. It didn't matter.

Zahi slipped his fingers in her golden hair, their drunken kissing sloppy. His chest heaved with shallow breaths. She tasted... Better than she should have. It was one thing, having to seduce the Key, and then later developing some sort of feelings for her—more gratitude than anything else—but quite another to...

To what? They weren't having sex.

Vanessa's back hit the brick wall of Morgan's house, Zahi's knee pressing between her thighs. She parted them. He moved from her mouth, her small pants making him feel hot and uncomfortable. His lips found her neck, and she moaned from the kisses and bites he gave her beautiful, sensitive skin. Her hands slid along his back, and he arched into the touch. Pressing herself up against him, she let her fingers wander, drifting slowly from his back to his chest and abs, steadily going lower. His grunts of appreciation must have encouraged her. His jeans were unzipped, unbuttoned, loosened around his hips.

She breathed into his ear, her voice husky. "I'm not usually like this." It was almost like an apology. An arousing apology. His cock twitched, already erect, but now he knew he couldn't stop. She was good for not being like she was, her hand around his throbbing erection as she slipped it into his pants. He groaned.

When was the last time he had even had sex?

"Vanessa..." He breathed her name sharply. He needed her now. If she kept squeezing and pumping him like she was absently doing, her tongue discovering the curves of his ear, he would come. Alcohol inhibited him enough as it was. He wanted her. He wanted to be inside of her. He wanted to...

He grabbed her hand, pulling it away from him. She pulled back to look at him, confusion in her lust-filled eyes. He lifted her skirt up, his fingers twisting into the scrap that she called underwear. Bending down, he slowly continued to slip them off, planting kisses along her smooth legs as she lifted them to help him out. The color was blue, almost like her eyes. He glanced up at her.

"Do you coordinate with your looks?"

She laughed. He wondered if she knew what he was talking about.

"Zahi..." She moaned his name, but she wavered on her feet. They both probably weren't going to last much longer.

"I don't have a condom." He swallowed. His throat and mouth were dry.

She shook her head. "I'm on the pill," she assured him. He crushed her underwear in his fist before shoving them into his pocket, though his jeans did not remain on long. They fell to his ankles, boxer briefs quickly following.

She was warm, accepting, and so wet. Gripping her hips, he pulled her up, pressing her into the wall as he thrusted himself into her quickly. She moaned loudly in his ear, and he nearly came. Was he always this fumbling during sex? Could she possibly really like this? He wasn't going to last much longer at this rate. How sad. It was like he was a boy again: clueless.

But she moaned. And thrusted her hips back against him. She may not have been like this usually, but the former goddess knew what she was doing, moving with him, pulling and tightening herself around him in ways he couldn't possibly remember from before. It was bad, they were drunk, and it was something he had never had before.

Darkly, a thought entered his mind, and he laughed as he felt his body twitch. A few more pumps. That's all he needed.

She still smiled at him when he finished too early to have clearly satisfied her. It could have only been a few minutes. Point blank. She pushed her skirt back down around her hips and thighs, brushing a small kiss against his cheek, and wobbled unsteadily away.

He watched her go, pulling up his pants. She had grown, that young girl who had always seemed much weaker than the others. She was stronger than he assumed, more sure of herself.

Closing his eyes, he leaned back against the wall where he had just _fucked_ the one woman he had never seen for what she could be while with the Atrox.

His earlier thought floated around his mind.

Zahi had never had a goddess writhing against him before.


	5. Chapter 5

Cassandra, as she usually did, let herself into Zahi's small apartment, bringing with her the scent of coffee and sugary glaze. "I brought you breakfast," she said with a smirk as she placed everything that she was carrying onto an empty space on the counter top.

"I can see," Zahi replied, flipping open the donut box to grab one of the calorie-filled pastries.

In the old days, he never would have associated himself with the bitchy Follower under Stanton's command. In exile, however, all they had were other outcasts. It was hard to assimilate yourself into a world you knew you didn't belong to without someone who understood the same struggle as you. Most had learn this the hard way.

Including the two who were currently sharing breakfast.

Grabbing one of the coffees, he sat down at the tiny kitchen table next to her. She was already sipping her own. "What are you doing here so early?"

"My day off," she replied as she leaned back in the cheap, plastic chair, smiling at him. "I haven't seen you in awhile."

"Two days," he corrected her. He had swung by her job to say hello, so that she wouldn't worry about him. Though, he gathered now, it hadn't particularly worked.

"You hadn't called. So, I was just making sure you were still breathing."

He smiled at that. He never believed once that he would see another side to the maroon-haired girl, a compassionate and caring one, one that was directed to him always. Then again... He never exactly thought that Cassandra would become his... What was the word? His best friend, though the title seemed cheap and bland in accurately describing just what the girl was to him.

"I'm still breathing."

"I noticed." She continued to sip at her bitter drink—he knew she liked her coffee black.

Zahi bit into his pastry, savoring the glaze on his tongue. Sweet. A flashback from the other night flitted through his mind. It was like the taste of her mouth, her gloss against his taste buds. "A day off, huh? What are you planning on doing?"

Cassandra shrugged, her eyes darkening. He twitched in his seat, leaning forward. "Tymmie came by again."

He sighed softly. That was all he really needed to know. Tymmie... Cassandra's other weak spot in this new world of theirs. Ever since the end of the Atrox, the man had been wandering around, stalking Cassandra off and on now these few, short years.

"You're going to met him," Zahi guessed, and the woman before him nodded.

"In an hour," she confirmed. She stood up, walking over to the box to grab her own donut, leaning back against the counter as she nibbled slowly on it. She was deep in thought.

"Why?"

"Why not?" There was a gleam in her eyes, and he saw a bit of the old Cassandra briefly in them before she became herself again.

"That isn't you anymore," he said to her, reminding her of how far they had come since those dark times. It had been over two years now since the end of their former master, longer since their exiles.

"I know." She looked tired suddenly, her shoulders drooping only slightly before she steeled her spine once again. "I just feel I owe it to him."

Cassandra was on a mission. She thought she could change Tymmie. Zahi did not believe the fool could change, even for Cassandra.

"You call me if you get into trouble," he told her.

"My knight in shining armor," she muttered sarcastically as she shoved the rest of the breakfast treat into her mouth, her cheeks puffing out like a squirrel.

"I'm being serious, Cassandra."

She continued chewing, her tongue occasionally flicking across her lips. When she had swallowed her food, she spoke, "Me, too, Zahi."

"I don't trust him."

"No offense, but you don't really trust _anyone_, Zahi. You're completely guarded," she said with a perk of her brow, lips pursed.

"And you're not?" He asked incredulously. He saw her as the poster child of the word "guarded".

"I'm giving _him_ a chance, am I not?"

_That's called being dumb_, he thought, happy that she no longer had the ability to delve into his mind.

"I will not argue with you," he mumbled, pushing away from the table. You just didn't win with Cassandra. It was easier to concede.

"Hey..."

"What?" He glanced up at her, but she was already moving over to him. Her hand extended as she began reaching down, and he watched her with mild curiosity as she went straight for his pants.

"What is this?" She pondered aloud with a chuckled, her fingers securing around something blue sticking out of his pocket.

A blue thong, to be exact. A blue thong that dangled from his friend's fingers. They both stared at it, Cassandra amused, Zahi confused.

"Is there something you need to tell?" She questioned playfully, dangling the scrap of cloth in his face. "Some kind of fetish maybe?"

Zahi remembered comparing the color of the thong to the eyes of the owner. She had laughed and told him to shut up. "I must have slipped them in my pocket when I took them off..."

"Who the fuck do they belong to?"

If Cassandra knew anything about Zahi, it was that he didn't just randomly have sex with women. And the only woman in his life that mattered was her. Cassandra did not wear thongs—personal choice as she didn't find them anywhere near sexy.

"What?" He blinked innocently at her, his eyes avoiding the object she continued to wave in his face.

Taking it upon herself, she grunted as she sat in his lap, glaring icily at him. "Who were you fucking?"

"Must you know everything about my life?" From the look she was giving him, he knew that he was going to end up telling her anyway. "It was the other night at Morgan's party. The one you refused to go to."

"I hate that wannabe bitch. Why do you humor her?" Cassandra sneered, dropping the panties to the floor and wiping her hand on Zahi's shirt. "_Please_ tell me you _did not_ have sex with Morgan."

"I feel bad for her sometimes. Never in, never out. She's not _exactly_ the same as she once was," Zahi commented in Morgan's defense. He never understood why Cassandra hated her so much.

"I thought you had standards, Zahi," Cassandra moaned, coming to the conclusion that it was none other than Morgan that he had slept with.

"It wasn't with Morgan, Cassandra. Don't kill yourself just yet," he said dryly. This perked her interest as her eyes slid to the fallen garment. She twisted in his lips, her attention completely on him.

"So, who was the lucky bitch to catch your eye?" She asked again with much more sweetness despite her choice of words.

"Vanessa," he said hurriedly, rushing to expel her name from his tongue.

"Vanessa? Who's that?" She wondered, her eyebrows drawing together int hough. He waited for it to dawn on her, why he would use only a first name as though she knew this girl. The moment it did—as a ton of light bulbs exploded over her head—he couldn't help but chuckle just a bit. "Zahi!"

"Yes?"

"How... You... But she... _That Vanessa_?" She screeched, her body and face stiffening in muted anger and confusion. "You did _what_?"

"Yes. That Vanessa," he sighed. Was this worse than Morgan?

"You had sex—"

"It was more animalistic than simple sex," he interjected, shutting her up. This was quite a feat. He wasn't sure if he really liked it.

Her lips thinned out. She got out of his lap, face red, body shaking. What was she thinking? Why was she acting like that? She scooped the tong off the ground, shoving it into Zahi's mouth. _That_ he was not prepared for. He coughed, tasting fabric.

"Zahi. You're an idiot. You know who Vanessa was, and you know Adamantis is around somewhere. Of all the girls in Los Angeles..."

He understood it now. He pulled Vanessa's underwear from his mouth, clutching it in his hand. "Cassandra..."

She stormed out of his apartment, leaving him alone with a strong sensation of guilt clutching at his gut.

Cassandra was afraid for him. Because Vanessa was a former Daughter, and because Vanessa had been a coveted prize for Adamantis, according to some of their "old" friends.

She was acting like what he had done was anything more than one drunken night of mistaken action. He was pretty sure that he would never see the blonde girl—woman—again.

Though a strong part of him wanted to.


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: Yay, regular updating schedule. ;D Enjoy.**

Michael took her back to his place, taking care of her drunken self with care. He gave her a glass of water and a slice of bread for her stomach, to help soak up whatever remained in her. He slid on a pair of his boxers for her when he realized she was naked beneath her short skirt—and he did it because was too wasted to do anything but fall over and giggle. When she was falling asleep, he carried her to bed, where he and Andrew placed her in the middle, and she curled up to them with a smile and a mumbled name.

"Zahi."

She stayed the rest of the weekend. She stayed with them for most of the week. They slept in bed together, and she fell asleep comfortably knowing that she wouldn't see those horrible shadows when she was with company.

"Do you ever plan on going home?" Michael asked her, his voice rising above the running water as she washed the dishes from dinner.

"I like it better here," she tossed out casually. Mom still wasn't home. She'd be alone. Alone meant...

When had she become so delusional? She was not a little girl anymore, but an actual woman. Women were not afraid of the silly dark. There was nothing wrong with the dark.

"We like having you around, too..."

She got the hint. She was beginning to intrude. It sucked being single and having only couples for friends.

"I'll get out of your hair tonight. I really need my own clothes, anyway."

Michael's sweats and boxers, Andrew's shirts, and a stale bra were not exactly the height of fashion...

"Want me to drive?"

She shook her head. It was a nice night. She didn't need the ride. Didn't really want it, either. After awhile, feeling like a burden to people just became tiresome.

And if she walked home, she wouldn't have to face the empty darkness so soon.

The night air enveloped her softly, and it felt as good as it always did on her skin. Above her head rested billions of tiny, sparkling stats and the smallest of a sliver of moon. If this hadn't been the city—with all of its man-made lights—the night would have been a heavy cloak. Much more frightening.

A shiver ran through her body. She tried to not think about it. There were no monsters, no _real_ ones, anyway. All of it was in her mind. She thinned out her lips as she pressed them together, repeating to herself over and over. She attempted to keep the mantra. Attempted to not feel as though millions of eyes were focusing in on her.

_I'm becoming paranoid over nothi_ng_, _she scoffed angrily. This was not the way she wanted t be.

Taking a deep breath, she continued walking, keeping to as many lights and crowded areas as possible.

--

_The girl was running faster, unsure of what she should do. The look of horror on her face was clear. The amulet bounced harshly on her young chest, smacking against bone. The light from from the object made the bottom half of her face glow oddly._

_Pounding footsteps made her run even faster, and she was obviously at a loss of where to go._

_Her body collided with another's, and the girl's fall was cushioned by the other as they hit the ground. The predators stopped running, gazing eerily at the tangled bodies heaped in front of them, yellow eyes bright and dangerous._

_The girl whimpered, and Vanessa got a good look at was happening._

Jimena's body shook wordlessly, goosebumps rising along her flesh as she blinked her vision away. Her old self, her "Jimena", struggled to battle her "Pandia" for control over herself again. Collin's hand on the small of her back, gently rubbing and bringing her back to reality, was a great comfort, and Pandia slipped away with a small smile.

"Jimena?" Collin's voice made her smile, and she turned her head to look at him, lucky to always have him there when the visions happened. "What was this one about?"

She sighed. To the point, in a way she didn't like answering. "One of my girls runs into Vanessa... And they both are confronted by Followers."

His face paled only slightly. "What you saw before then..." He trailed off, shaking his head slowly.

Jimena nodded sharply once. "This is where it starts."

"How can we help her?"

"I'm not even sure if we are supposed to, Collin... My duty is to the Daughters."

"But... Vanessa!"

"Vanessa is not my duty," she replied with a touch of bitterness. Pandia may have slipped back into her subconscious, but that didn't mean the goddess was not always there. Pandia knew what Jimena was meant to do, and Jimena had no choice but to listen to the wiser voice sometimes.

"Vanessa is your friend, though," Collin reminded her, standing up with his angry outburst. "She was once a Daughter."

This happened to often between them. _Collin_, she thought to herself miserably, watching him as he walked away from her in muted disgust. They fought too often now, ever since she started having visions of the next generation of Daughters. Ever since she began having odd visions concerning Vanessa, too. She didn't understand where he was coming from. Was he angry with her because of she was now? Was he frustrated that he couldn't help her out?

"Collin..." She whispered softly, but he had already left her behind in the room, distancing himself from her. She wondered when it was when she would see the vision of him walking away from her for good.

--

Vanessa instinctively wrapped her arms around the younger girl who had crashed into her as she stared up at the two men who had given chase. The girl's body shook horrendously, and Vanessa could have sworn that small tremors moved the ground beneath her as well. The girl whimpered. Vanessa held tighter.

"Well, well. Two pretty girls for the price of one," one of them men purred seductively, and Vanessa swallowed hard. There was something wrong with his voice, like it was silk wrapped around sand paper. Slowly, she let her eyes swing upwards to stare at the man and his partner. For a second two pairs of eyes flashed a yellow color, and she blinked rapidly to process this thought.

_What?_

The other gave her a feral smile, watching her with intensity.

"What do you two want?" Her voice didn't come out as strong as she wished it would have. She had been hoping to sound stronger and intimidating.

They both laughed. She shivered. The girl clung to Vanessa's body.

With her hand on the girl's back, Vanessa slowly began to stand up, and the girl stood with her, refusing to look out at the world around her. Vanessa knew these guys were trouble. She knew that she had to help the little girl.

"We want the goddess," Number Two said to her.

_He's insane!_

The creeps glanced at each other briefly.

The girl looked up at her, breathing loudly, confusion in her dark eyes. Vanessa pet her hair back, keeping her eyes on the men without looking directly in their eyes. She was terrified of them. Something within her said that she was supposed to be terrified of them.

"Go away," Vanessa told them, taking a step back. The girl stepped with her. The guys stepped closer, leering, full of twisted grins.

"No can do. We need the girl."

"She stole something from us, and we need it back."

The blonde woman didn't believe a word of the utter bullshit streaming from their mouths.

"I said go the fuck away before I alert the police," Vanessa tried again.

"Oh. She's threatened us with the police," Number One chuckled.

"Indeed," Number Two laughed.

"Please," the girl whispered.

How was Vanessa supposed to work with this?

Vanessa shifted her hold to the girl's shoulders, shaking the girl's grip off of her. She stared stunned at the older girl, but Vanessa smiled softly at her in reassurance.

"_Run!"_

She let go of the girl, and the little thing took off again. Her chasers groaned, glaring murderously at Vanessa, but she didn't care. Assholes like these two didn't get breaks.

"Go after her, Dimitri!" Number One screamed.

Number Two—Dimitri—got away, but Vanessa launched her body at Number One, but he side stepped her, and she went sprawling to the sidewalk instead. He stood over her.

"You stupid bitch," he muttered, reaching down to grab her.

Vanessa's mouth parted, and she did the first thing that came to mind. "RAPE!"

People around her stared. People around her stepped forward.

Number One took off, but not before telling Vanessa, "I know who are you, bitch. Just you wait."

Vanessa's stomach clenched sickeningly, her eyes widening. Her heart began to race faster than it was, the pounding sound so loud in her ears. His threat sounded too real to ignore.

"Are you okay?" One of the good Samaritans who had stepped forward took her by the elbow and helped her to her feet. She nodded wordlessly, flashing him a shaky smile.

"I'm disappointed that he got away," she murmured, but her insides had frozen over.

"Guys like that don't stay on the streets for long," he helped reassure her. Again, she nodded.

Vanessa's legs shook helplessly. She thought she would pass out.

How could she go home now?


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: Yay! I just have to take two finals on Friday, and I won't have to worry about school until August! Enjoy the chapter.**

As shaken up as she was, Vanessa knew that the smart decision would be to take herself on home, take a hot shower, and crawl into bed for say... The next year. She just couldn't go home. She couldn't be alone in the dark, with those men lying in wait for her. The idea was frightful. Gathering herself, she went inside of a nearby diner, hoping that some coffee would be her ticket to calming her nerves.

_And then what, Vanessa?_ She asked herself as she slid quietly into a back booth, taking deep breaths. The purely evil look in that man's face as he told her he knew who she was... She just couldn't shake it from her mind.

_I can't go crawling back to Michael's. Jimena and Collin don't need me to intrude on their lives. Derek is still not home yet. Morgan..._

She could call Morgan up, ask to stay for awhile. Maybe Morgan would understand if she explained the situation to her. Well, not the whole situation, because she didn't want to come off as crazy, but enough of it so that she could crash contently at Morgan's place.

Pulling out her phone, she flipped it open, searching through the contacts. _I wish I had Zahi's number..._

It was a strange thought. He probably didn't want to even see her again, not after what happened between them. He probably thought that she was some drunken slut who would have fucked anybody in her state. That was not true. She didn't even know why she had sex with Zahi.

But as bad and awkward as it was... It was actually pretty good. Like a teasing promise that whispered to her that he could be so much better sober.

"Excuse me, what can I ge— Vanessa Cleveland..."

"Huh?" Blinking rapidly, Vanessa turned to face the waitress who had said her name. Her lips parted as she tried to think of where she had seen the familiar woman before. She looked her over, noting her pale skin beneath the pale blue uniform, the maroon ponytail that hung limply across one shoulder, and the tired look in her eyes. Yes, she was very familiar to Vanessa. Now, if only she could place a name to the face..

_Planet Bang. A girl, carving into her skin. What were the letters again? What was going on? S... T..._

"You're... Cassandra, right?" Vanessa squinted her eyes in thought. That was her name. Cassandra. She... She had liked Serena's boyfriend... Hadn't she? Isn't that what happened? Vanessa had run into her once at Planet Bang a few years back...

"I'm surprised that you even remember me," came Cassandra's voice, holding just a lick of sarcasm beneath her words.

Vanessa attempted a smile. One corner of her mouth twitched, as though it wanted to perk up, but the night's events had rendered her with the inability at the moment. "I do tend to forget stuff, too. You can't really forget your hair color, though."

"Infamous maroon," Cassandra agreed, staring at Vanessa curiously, one eyebrow perked up. There was a certain hostile gleam in Cassandra's eyes, and it made Vanessa squirm just a bit. She didn't need this as well.

"Exactly..."

"You look... Did something happen to you?" Her voice didn't exactly convey concern, but it was nice to hear someone asking her if anything was wrong.

Running her fingers through her hair, Vanessa sighed loudly and briefly closed her eyes before glancing up at Cassandra again. "I was threatened... For helping a little girl get away from some creeps tonight. That's all."

"Little Vanessa... Always trying to save somebody," Cassandra muttered, and a mound of confusion hit Vanessa hard.

"What are you talking about?"

Cassandra's eyes widened to the size of saucers, and she laughed harshly, trying to draw attention away from what she had said. Vanessa saw through it. She wasn't an idiot. She had heard what Cassandra had said, something about her always trying to save somebody. What did that even mean?

"So, what can I interest you in? I'm told by my boss that I have to tell you that our apple pie is the best..." Cassandra leaned down, coming face to face with Vanessa. "It's a fucking lie, though. Don't get it."

The blonde's jaw dropped, and she gave a small chuckle at Cassandra's audacity. "Coffee would be just fine."

"The coffee is good," Cassandra agreed before swiftly walking, hopefully to get Vanessa her coffee.

--

Cassandra glanced over the counter at Vanessa, shaking her head for a moment. Of all the people that could just waltz into her place of work, it had to have been the former goddess. She turned around, grabbing a porcelain cup on her way to the coffee maker.

_Tymmie stared at her blankly, his eyes dark as she fidgeted nervously. She had never been like this before. Before, when they had roomed together in a disgusting apartment with Stanton and his other lackies, she had been wild and filled with such false confidence, Tymmie would have never guessed in a million years on how silly he slowly began to make her feel, even as she tried desperately to get Stanton to want to be with her. Now, though, she didn't have that old shield. She was just a simple, vulnerable girl without the false shell to protect her from this man._

"_I'm glad you decided to meet with me," he said to her, but his voice was so flat, she wasn't sure she could really believe his sentiment. If it hadn't been for the fact that he had been hounding after her, she would have outright thought it was a lie._

"_I'm just curious as to what it is you could possibly have to say to me," she retorted, crossing her legs as she leaned back in her seat, only speaking a half truth._

"_Convincing you to join me wouldn't work, would it?" _

"_Not anymore than I convincing you," she replied. Her shoulders drooped as he nodded his agreement. Could she not save him? If Zahi could be saved, surely..._

"_I am not Zahi!" Tymmie exclaimed loudly, and she briskly nodded._

"_I know that, Tymmie. I know."_

_He looked away from her. What should she say now?_

"_Tymmie... What is it that you really want from me?" _Let's just cut to the chase already_, she added as an afterthought, hoping that he would pick it up. He did, of course. He wouldn't miss an opportunity to finally have the edge over her._

"_Adamantis is coming back," Tymmie said to her. _

_Cassandra had already figured that this would happen. She knew that evil like him couldn't be stopped. "What about him?"_

"_Selene has noticed his return as well. She has... There are new Daughters already, hand picked by her."_

"_This late?" Cassandra questioned, shaking her head in confusion. "They would have to have been born and—"_

"_Yes. The threat of Adamantis seems to have spurred the goddess forward ahead of time."_

_He sounded so unlike himself that she found herself shivering. He was so cold, so..._

"_Why are you telling me this?"_

"_You already know that Lambert made an alliance with Adamantis..."_

"_Meaning you, also..."_

_She looked away from him, snorting loudly and shaking her head. Did Tymmie still have illusions of some kind of life of power, ruling under the supreme evil of the world? Why was it a vision that he could not shake? Why did he have to keep doing this to himself?_

"_Tell me something, Tymmie. Why tell me all this? Why contact me at all?"_

"_You always were good at getting to the point of things." Tymmie stood up, towering over her. She stared up at him, not liking this at all. She stood as well, and even though she was still going to always be shorter than him, it made her feel better than the brief emotion of him dominating over her in that position._

"_And you were always good at skirting the issue."_

"_Lambert is trying to gather the old Followers, those of you who scattered after the fall of the Atrox. It's been quiet so far, but if Selene is preparing for war, then so are we."_

"_I still don't understand what this has to do with me," she said, crossing her arms across her chest._

"_Don't you, though? You still have the taint of the Atrox, and you always will. No matter what you do."_

_He leaned in close to her, and her heart sped up briefly. What was he going to do? Why was she freaking out? She was acting like she had never had sex with Tymmie before. _

"_Watch your back, Cassandra. And tell Zahi to be careful of who he sleeps with. Vanessa is off limits."_

"_Why is that?" She laughed sharply, trying to quell the fear inside of her. She knew that Zahi fucking Vanessa would have horrible consequences. She _knew_ it. "Are you trying to get the girl's attention?"_

_He leaned in further, pressing his mouth up against hers. She shivered. "I only want to get your attention."_

She turned around with the hot cup, her eyes searching for Vanessa again. She sighed loudly. "Zahi..."

--

"This is a surprise," Zahi said, and Vanessa seemed to find her lost smile again when she heard his velvet voice.

"Zahi, what are you doing here?" She asked him sweetly, batting her lashes up at him. Oh, yes, she was flirting with him.

"Cassandra works here, so I usually drop by to visit her," he answered honestly. He gestured to the seat across from her."Would you mind if I took a seat?"

Her body ran cold in panic. "Go ahead." Was it possible that him and Cassandra were together, and he was just going to quickly tell her that she should keep her mouth shut?

"I didn't think that I would see you again," Zahi said, surprising her.

"I... I suppose that you probably didn't really want to after what happened at the party," she mumbled, staring down at the table. _This is it. This is where he's going to tell me to leave and to not tell anybody what happened._

"I wasn't expecting to, really. I didn't think you would have wanted to see me after the party. You..." He stopped talking, and she glanced back up to see why he had gone silent.

"I what?" She pushed, wanting him to finish his thought.

"You walked off pretty quickly after what happened, without really saying anything. I thought that you might have been..." He stared at her quietly, and she could see that he was trying hard to find the words to say to her.

"Might have been what?" She prompted again, blinking at him curiously.

"It was really bad." He coughed in embarrassment, his neck growing red slightly. "I was really bad. I figured that you just didn't want to be around me anymore."

She giggled softly, not knowing what to say. "I was drunk, Zahi. I ended up puking in a houseplant after sharing a joke with it."

"You did what?" He laughed with her as she blushed and crinkled her nose with the admitted behavior.

"You heard me..."


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: I know, I'm realy behind!!! I'm so sorry, guys. The past chapters are coming. Just be patient with me, and leave me reviews!**

Zahi shook his head in amusement. Not once did he ever believe that such a girl as Vanessa had been in her early days of high school could be the woman that she was now: funny, smart, and not so uptight about life.

"What was the joke?" He asked her, causing her to laugh. He liked the sound. Soft, carefree. Not like her old laughter, so controlled.

"I really don't even remember. Michael told me that's what I did."

Zahi nodded. _Michael_... "Your boyfriend? Or... I would hope ex..."

"Very much my ex-boyfriend," she confirmed. She continued to smile at him, but around the edges of her mouth, Zahi noticed a certain tightness.

A cup slammed down in front of Vanessa's hands, the coffee sloshing up against the sides of the ceramic as it settled down from its harsh placement. Vanessa looked up at Cassandra, who popped her hip and leaned down, smiling widely at Zahi. The blond quickly cast her glance away from the scene, heat rushing up her neck.

Zahi sighed, finding it difficult to resist rolling his eyes at his friend's antics. "Hello, Cassandra."

"Why, Zahi! You're earlier than I expected!" Cassandra in exclaimed in mock cheerfulness, leaning forward to place her lips on his cheek with a loud pop. From the corner of his eye, he saw Vanessa rub the back of her neck. A clear sign of being uncomfortable. He didn't blame her. Cassandra knew how to make others feel small when she was around.

"Cassandra, I didn't exactly give you a time when I would drop in," he explained to her calmly, leveling his eyes at his best friend, trying to convey that she was _interrupting._ Her quickly cruel smile told him all he needed to know. _That_ was her plan. Of course.

"You usually stop by later, so that way we can walk _home_"—she looked to Vanessa as she emphasized the word—"together."

Vanessa blinked slowly, reaching for her cup of coffee. "I should probably get going..."

"You don't have to." Zahi glared at Cassandra.

Cassandra smiled sweetly. "I'll get your check." She bounced away with a triumphant hop.

Vanessa sighed and stared down at her untouched liquid. "Did you tell her about the night of the party?" Her voice was so soft, Zahi ached along with her.

"Yes." His eyebrows knitted together quizzically. "She was angry." Why was she asking?

"I see..." She let go of the cup and squeezed her fingers together. Avoiding his stare, she looked over at Cassandra, her leg bouncing with impatience. "Then why are you talking to me? I'm surprised she didn't claw my eyes out."

Realization dawned on Zahi, finally. If he was the type of person prone to such actions, he might have smacked himself in the forehead, the way Cassandra often did when she forgot something important. "Vanessa... I'm not with Cassandra."

Her mouth opened slightly, and he felt a twinge inside of him. Her lips were enticingly beautiful. He needed to keep his head on straight, though.

"You're not?" she asked in an incredulous tone. Clearly, she had already formed her opinion on the situation. That was Cassandra for the world, making them all believe what she wanted them to believe.

"No." He chuckled lightly. "She's just highly protective of me."

Vanessa's eyes slid to Cassandra again, then back to him. A devilish quirk of her lips made her eyes sparkle. He leaned forward, curiously. What was she thinking? She pulled her phone out from her pocket. "Give me your number."

"What?"

"Your number, Zahi. We can meet without your bodyguard."

He smiled in return at her, quickly speaking his digits. Cassandra was already walking back.

--

Vanessa left the diner quickly, hoping to avoid Cassandra's wrath and questions. But it all didn't really matter with the shrew. A grin spread across her mouth, and she must have looked crazy to the people walking around a girl with a smile that big on. She had gotten Zahi's number. And he had hers.

That was all that mattered.

She stepped up to the curb of the sidewalk, leaning her body forward, her arm outstretched as she waved to a passing taxi. It slowed to a stop. Walking didn't seem like such a hot idea anymore, but she at least felt comfortable enough to return to her own home, even if it was dark and lonely.

_How about a real cup of coffee sometime?_

She smiled at the text, hugging her phone to her chest briefly in giddy excitement. What, was she an immature high school girl again, buzzing with excitement over the hot guy crush?

Well, yes. That's exactly what she was.

_Sure._

--

Cassandra's hand connected harshly with the back of his head, and he stumbled forward a few steps, luckily being saved by his closed apartment door. The spot where she hit him instantly began to throb.

"You are an idiot."

"Cassandra..."

She bumped him aside, grabbing his key from his hand so as to open the door herself. She flung it open, stomping into his apartment. "Was it that good?"

"What?" Zahi asked her with a sigh, closing his door behind him. Cassandra left a hole in the wall from the doorknob, something that _he_ would have to pay for.

"What do you think?" The dangerous harpy spun on her heel, hands on her hip as she glared at him. "Her pussy."

"Cassandra, don't talk like that. It's rude and disgusting," he told her flatly.

"Are you trying to tell me something here, Zahi? Like maybe she is more than a piece of ass?"

"I'm saying that I can go out with whoever I wish, the same as you. Who are you, Cassandra, to lecture _me_ on who I want to go see? I seem to recall that you went out with Tymmie. Didn't you?"

"That is _completely_ different!" She protested angrily, flopping down onto his overstuffed, secondhand couch, reaching down to pull her work shoes off. She groaned and flexed her toes in freedom. "Tymmie and I have history."

"Well... Now Vanessa and I have history."

Slowly, she turned her head so that she was looking up at him. "Zahi..."

"I don't want to hear it. You can't keep me for yourself, Cassandra. You chose him. Don't think that you can keep me under lock and key, too," he muttered dryly, walking away from her and towards the bathroom.

Behind him, he heard her footsteps following him. Hers arms reached out, wrapping around his waist from behind. Her cheek pressed against his back, and he heard her soft sigh.

"It's not that, Zahi. Adamantis is going to be back for her. Don't you get that at all? He is coming back... And Vanessa would make the perfect bride, don't you think? If you stand in his way..."

"I can take care of myself."

"You're not an Immortal anymore. You have no powers. Even if you did... You would be no match for Adamantis. I am begging you, my friend, and you know I don't do that. I am begging you to leave her alone, Zahi," she said in a soft voice, as if afraid to plead any louder.

He turned around, his hands on her shoulders, bending down to look her in the eyes. "Cassandra, if this is the case, shouldn't we protect Vanessa?"

"No. We are neither the heroes, nor the villains. We are nothing, Zahi. Absolutely nothing."

--

_Another night with Collin sleeping on the couch._

Jimena rolled over onto her side, curling up into a ball, her arms wrapped tightly around one of his pillows. He was still mad at her from earlier, from their fight concerning Vanessa.

He didn't understand how it was, what it was like to be two different people in one body. _Literally_.

She clenched her jaw, sitting up. Pulling her fist back, she let it fly into the pillow she was cuddling, imagining it to be his face for a brief moment. When the moment ceased, and she found herself still using the poor pillow as her own punching bag, it was her own face she was hitting now. It was Pandia. It was Selene. It was the Daughters.

"Jimena?"

Her fist paused in midair, and her head turned on her neck to look behind her at Collin. He stood in the doorway to their bedroom, looking tired and ruffled. "Collin?"

"You've destroyed my pillow."

"I know." She shoved the mangled object off the bed, releasing her rage with the final thrust. "You can have my pillow."

"I'd rather just have you."

A slight smile twitched on her face as she shook her head. "You already have that."

He crawled onto the bed, moving over his girlfriend until she was lying beneath him. "No... I don't think that I really do."


	9. Chapter 9

**AN: So, I know, I know. I'm a week behind. I'm sorry. I will try to catch up. Hopefully (no promises) I will have two chapters for you guys coming up, to catch up on the updates and whatnot. Does that sound good? :o Hope so. Alright, love ya'll, and review, please! :DD**

He never wanted anyone so bad. She flitted through his mind, tantalizing and seemingly untouchable. He had already had her, so why the dreams? He would reach out to touch her, and she would laugh and take a step back. It wasn't so mysterious a dream. Obviously, she was an object of sexual desire. When she started stripping, he had to wake up. His imagination could only take him so far.

In those early morning hours, when Zahi's hand made its way beneath the blankets and slid into his boxers, he found both relief from the built-up pressure the erection was causing and relief from the increasing guilt he felt. Not guilt from the sex, but guilt from not knowing what Vanessa looked like beneath her clothes. The guilt he was experiencing stemmed from not seeing the perfection of her body, not tasting the sweetness of her skin, not taking the time to know.

He grunted softly with the slow pumping of his hand, images of the "golden girl" making the pleasure even greater. Propping his head back against the wall, his eyes closed. Almost there.

Zahi could only remember a handful of times that he had truly been embarrassed. One of those times had been when his plans for turning Serena were thwarted (and he had been the one in the Cold Fire, losing _his_ immortality). Another of those times had been when, sometime after the Cold Fire incident, he had bumped into Serena and confessed his love for her. Kindly, she had placed her hand on his arm and calmly explained that it wasn't love, but her worship, and she was very flattered that he felt that way towards her, but he had gotten in over his head.

This exact moment in which he groaned loudly and his body shook and he was _coming_ topped every moment so far in his life, and any that could ever come after that.

"Your thoughts are quite... Disturbing. Chains, Zahi? I never pictured you for that sort of man," Tymmie rasped from the darkened corner of the French man's bedroom.

"_Fuck!"_ Zahi was filled with a rage he hadn't felt in a long time, embarrassed at being caught in such a manner. Add to that the fact that this maggot could read his mind... "Get the fuck out of here!"

"We need to talk," Tymmie told him flatly. Zahi felt disgusted. Disturbed. Murderous.

"Right now? At this moment? You honestly could not wait until after I took a shower?"

The _Infidus_ merely blinked at him, scratching one of his arms in annoyance. If anybody in the room needed an actual shower, it was this clown. Zahi couldn't figure out what in the hell Cassandra saw in this ugly freak. "Now seemed like a good time. You weren't about to go anywhere." Lazily, his eyes raked over Zahi's naked chest, making the man's skin crawl. "Complimenting me will get you nowhere."

"I'm taking a shower."

"Don't take too long."

Zahi knew that he would probably never masturbate again after this moment. Whatever Tymmie had to say to him had better be life or death.

The water that hit against his dark body was cold, and he wanted to shrink away from the chill settling over his skin as he continued to stand beneath the weak stream and grit his teeth. He wouldn't back away.

What the hell could Tymmie possibly be here for? Was he going to threaten Zahi away from Cassandra? Fat chance of that _ever_ happening. Zahi wouldn't abandon his closest friend to evil, not when they needed each other so much still. If this was Tymmie's intent for barging in on his during his _private_ moment, Tymmie would be in for a rude awakening. He may not be anywhere close to the same level as Tymmie, but he wouldn't damn well let him have the harpy bitch.

There couldn't have been any other reason for this intrusion.

There wasn't.... It couldn't...

The water chilled his face, and he shivered as he turned his head up to face the current. It ran down from his black hair in fat streams, crashing along the planes of his face as they came to regroup over his lips and cascade to the rest of his body from his chin.

Tymmie's heavy hand bashed against the bathroom door. Zahi's eyes narrowed as he tried to contain himself. "Hurry the fuck up already. Nobody needs a shower longer than ten minutes."

"You do," Zahi muttered into the water, already reaching over to turn the faucet nozzles. The inviting stream of water ceased, leaving the man shivering in its wake. Bumps along his flesh rose up as he grabbed the lone towel on the sink counter, hurriedly patting himself down.

Louder bashing sounded in the tiny bathroom.

"Give me a minute!" Zahi snapped, muttering a few choice curses under his breath at the intruder—all in French, of course. Let Tymmie sweat it out over what it was he was saying.

When he opened the door, Tymmie smirked at him. "About damn time, you smug bastard."

The words almost—_almost—_sounded... Friendly was not the word. Less... _hostile_?

"You are too impatient for your line of work," Zahi muttered to the dirty man, stepping past him and heading towards the kitchen. "I'd offer you coffee, but that would imply I wanted you to stay."

"You don't."

"Correct."

Tymmie hopped up on the counter opposite of Zahi, watching him with dark eyes as the man tried to behave as normally as he would any other day. Minus the minion of evil. He grabbed the coffee can, shook it, listened to the barely-there rattle, and made a mental note that he needed to really go grab some groceries. He still had some cash left over from his last sale. He poured the grinds over the old, wet ones after discovering that he had no filters left over. His sense of taste was obviously deteriorating.

Smacking his palm against his forehead, Tymmie groaned out loud. "Your thoughts are boring. Where are those Vanessa ones? You know the ones I'm talking about."

Zahi looked over his shoulder, his dark eyes narrowing in a glare that caused even the_ Infidus_ to keep his mouth shut, though his grin told that he was still seeing Zahi's fantasies in his mind. "You have a few minutes before my coffee is finished, Tymmie. What the hell do you want?"

"I offer you a position, and a warning, Zahi." The malicious glint that had hardened in Tymmie's eyes did nothing to deter Zahi from listening, but it hardened a growing sense of fear within him that he thought he would never feel again.

--

Cassandra's lips parted with a smack as her friend shoved his way into her apartment when she had only barely opened the door for him. "Rude much?"

He moved her out of the way, slamming the door behind him, rattling the room. He ignored her protests and angry remarks about "neighbors, you asshole".

"Your _boyfriend_ came to visit me this morning." He turned on her, and she quieted instantly, face turning a shade lighter. Her body trembled with fear, but she straightened her spine still.

"Oh?" Her voice refused to waver under his frightful stare. _Refused_.

He growled, and her tremors were much more visible as he gripped her shoulders roughly and shoved her against a wall. His voice was low. Dangerous. If she was any lesser creature, she probably would have pissed herself. However, she was Cassandra, and she was not going to let her _best friend_ think she was _scared_ of him. Oh, no. That sounded like it would be a complete disaster.

"Why didn't you tell me?" His voice was nothing like the smooth velvet she had come to be accustomed to, the one that whispered of his refinement and gentleman-like nature. No, she knew this voice. It was the tone of demons, a tone she knew all too well. "How could you keep something like that from me? You should have known. You should have known they would have come to me in time."

Her breath came out in soft flutters, as though she couldn't quite take in air at a normal pace. She glared defiantly up at him, not speaking, not answering his questions. In frustration, he shook her harshly. As her head bounced against the wall he had her pressed against so tightly, she winced, feeling the pain explode in the one spot and slowly spread around her skull.

"Dammit, Zahi. _**Quit!**_"

His hands didn't drop from her body, but his grip loosened a bit, and she rolled her shoulders to help get the blood rushing in them again. They stared at each other, huffing in anger, words escaping them.

Finally, she spoke, her voice soft and apologetic. "I didn't know he was going to come to you. I didn't want you worrying over something like this."

"Something like what, Cassandra? What is this to you, a game? There are new Daughters! _Mon Dieu!_"

"You call His name as though He is going to light your path," she scoffed, but Zahi saw past her attempts at abrupt subject change.

"Cassandra, you should have told me."

"I didn't know how!" She wrenched free from his grip, and he let her move past him, her stomps furious and pounding. "Should I have just said to you that we were ideal recruits for the new regime?"

"Yes!"

"If you remember, I did say something. I told you about Vanessa being watched."

"That is not a warning about what they want from us. That is your warning to me to stay away from her."

"It's nearly the same thing," she said with light airs, giving him a look that begged for him to say otherwise. He didn't.

"Tell me you didn't tell Tymmie you would."

"Would I still be here, Zahi? Would we be talking about this right now if I said yes?" Cassandra sat heavily on the arm of her couch, wrapping hers arms around her middle, looking so much like a lost child rather than a strong woman. "I don't want that life anymore. I want..."

She could see the anger in his face lessen, if only a bit. He sighed loudly, making it sound more like a huff.

--

"It was insane, Jimena," Vanessa sighed, shaking her head. She scooted closer to her oldest friend, tucking herself gently against the other woman as she sought out comfort from her. Jimena wrapped her arms around the blond, squeezing her gently.

"Why didn't you give us a call after that, Nessa? We would have come to get you." _And it would have made Collin happier about the whole affair._

"I didn't want to bother you two. Not with my mess. I shouldn't have gotten involved, but I couldn't let those guys bully that girl. She was so young. I wonder if she made it back home..."

"You did a great thing by saving her, Vanessa."

"Hopefully it doesn't come back at me. Those guys... There was something unnatural about them." She didn't know what made Vanessa want to tell her all these things but Vanessa twisted her head, glancing up at her friend. "They were evil. Real evil, Jimena. I could sense that."

Jimena frowned, not sure what to say. How could she comfort her friend... When her fears were exactly correct?

They sat in silence as Jimena held her, Vanessa chewing on her lip as she thought.

"Oh.... I didn't tell you. Remember Zahi from school? We have a date..."

Jimena stiffened, her mind flashing back to all those years ago. The fire, Serena, how different everything seemed. They were so young and full of themselves, not realizing the real dangers and heartache that would be laying in wait for them...

She didn't have the warning signs, like Stanton would give her, but she was still worried for Vanessa. Michael had been safe. Derek had been safe. Why couldn't Vanessa pick _safe_ guys to be with?


	10. Chapter 10

**AN: .... .... .... .... At least you love me? -EPIC failure-**

**Dedication: Happy Birthday, Jen!!! This deliciously written chapter, even if it was hard..., is your birthday gift from me to you! I hope you love it!**

Coffee shops were perfect settings for first dates. Or... Well, Vanessa couldn't exactly count the party as their first date. She could, but she'd rather not. If she didn't, did that just make her a whore? At least, if it was a date, she could sort of hide herself behind that for the unplanned sex. She nibbled on her lip as she thought it all over.

"You look deep in thought," came his voice from out of nowhere, startling Vanessa as she sat up straight, tucking her hands into her lap and looking at him with bright eyes.

"Zahi!"

He smiled at her and took a seat next to her in the booth. She smiled back, scooting over to make room for him. "Sorry to keep you waiting."

"Oh, no, it's fine. I really was thinking, actually." She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. Her body shifted, turning at the hips so that she could face him.

"What were you thinking about?" He tilted his head at her, and she could feel his eyes studying her. She enjoyed that.

"About our date. Never mind all that. Maybe we should go—"

"I'll order. What would you like?" He was already standing up, waiting for her to give him the order.

Her lips parted as she thought it over, both what she wanted him to order for her and his offer in the first place. "I can order for myself, Zahi. It's not big deal..."

The look the French-Arabic was giving her was enough to make her go quiet instantly. She just lifted her eyebrows up in a gentle question, letting her body language do all the talking for her as he continued to wait, that sensual smile still playing on his lips, never once losing its luster.

"Vanessa, a man pays for his date. Just let me know what it is that you want me to pay for you."

She snorted softly through her giggle, shaking her head. Once upon a time, she would have been all giggly if Michael had told her he was going to pay for her. She thought it was so cute and romantic. But that was when she was 15, not practically 20, and now she was an independent woman. She could pay for her own meal.

Zahi leaned down, going to face level with her. "You let me pay for you this time, Vanessa, and I promise that _ you_ can pay for our next date."

A warmth settled over her. Their date had barely been under way, and he already wanted a second one with her, even though she was being feisty. Even though she was probably leaving a bad taste in his mouth by being so stubborn about him paying for a tea and maybe a scone or two.

"Now, I'll ask one last time before I order what you want," he laughed, but she knew he was being serious. She contemplated letting him do that, see what he thought she would like.

She smirked, thinking over what it was she did want. _You_. A soft blush was felt creeping up as she then thought she was glad he couldn't read minds. The way he was staring at her now, though, he probably didn't need to. His eyes lit up as brightly as hers were.

"Order for me," she told him, and his grin was spectacular. She didn't remember him ever smiling like that when they were in school together.

She watched him at the counter, watched as the girl smiled prettily at him, watched as he turned his head only a slight fraction of an inch, but it was enough for Vanessa to see his wink to her as he charmed the pants off the poor, unsuspecting teenager. Vanessa giggled again, quiet and to herself.

It didn't take him long to come back, and she was glad for that. She had already missed his presence around her. It was soothing and comfortable, sort of like being around Jimena... Except for the fact that she was sexually attracted to Zahi and not her dearest friend, which also made her a bit nervous.

Whipped cream covered the tops of both of their drinks, melting slowly against the heat wafting from the liquid. She wrapped her hands around the tall cup, breathing in the sweet scent of chocolate. "Hot chocolate?" She grinned in approval.

"Who can resist the lure of chocolate, _non_?" He also pushed a plate of cookies at her and watched as she took a snickerdoodle, munching into it happily.

"How did you know of my love for cinnamon and sugar?"

He smiled mysteriously, giving her a tiny shrug. "I read your mind before."

"You must think I'm such a fat-ass," she said to him after swallowing a mouthful of cookie. He reached for the plate, pulling a cookie off and placing it against his lips. She watched him this time, wishing she was that cookie.

"Not at all, Vanessa. Girls these days worry too much about their figures and what they put into their mouths. I find it all annoying."

The serious way he said it, the twitch on his lips, told her that he was being completely honest with her. Her mouth twisted into something not quite a smile. Popping the rest of the cookie into her mouth, she chewed slowly, leaning towards him with her chin propped up on her hand. "Morgan?"

"Morgan," Zahi agreed with a laugh. "Have you heard anything from those guys?"

Vanessa shook her head, sadly thinking about that girl from a few nights ago. "I hope that girl is okay, Zahi... she looked so terrified."

"I'm more worried about those idiots coming through on their threat against you..." He muttered with a dark look.

Vanessa shrugged, but she glowed on the inside. "I doubt they will." She reached her hand out, softly touching his. He was so... Warm. "I mean, I've never seen them before in my life. There's no way they could possibly know who I am. Don't worry."

The way his face twisted, his eyes hooded, the hard edge to firmly set jaw, all told her that he wasn't as convinced as she was... And she was barely convinced herself. Something was happening around her; she just didn't know if it was real or her imagination. The shadows seemed to have expanded in her room at night, the darker-than-black blobs covering her walls like new paint, and the dreams she'd been having lately had done nothing but set her on edge. She wasn't going to tell Zahi that, though. It was completely ridiculous.

She ended up steering the conversation in a new direction, and they soon began to talk about their lives, about their friendships—she revealed how not a day went by when she didn't feel Catty all around her, and Zahi told her that without Cassandra, he probably would have become some junkie living under a bridge somewhere—and they spoke of their dreams for themselves. He was so easy to talk to, she felt that she could trust him. But when stupid things were about to slip off her tongue, she swallowed them back again.

He didn't need to know about the shadows, her fears, the dreams, the feeling that she was missing something that everyone else had.

--

Vanessa smiled at Zahi's gentlemanly manners, laughing to herself as he walked her to the front door. What would be next? Would they both stand on her porch in awkward nervousness, both wondering who would go in for the first kiss as though they were young kids still? Of course, the first kiss had been long gone between them. She glanced back at her door, taking a tiny step closer to it.

"I had a lot of fun, Zahi. This has been one of my better first dates in a long time," she said to him, and he smiled at her.

"Mine, too, Vanessa." He took a step closer to her, and a shiver went up her spine.

She had to look up at him, a coy smile playing across her lips as she took another step back, another step away from him. His eyes darkened, only a glint of a fierce light reflecting back at her. Her back brushed up against the front door. Leaning forward, knowing that she had no where else to run to, he brushed his thumb across her cheek.

"Zahi..." She whispered his name, her voice strained. How could one man turn her on so much? Her body was practically shaking with desire.

"Let's do this one right, Vanessa. I want to show you."

She swallowed, grinning at the promise laced in his smooth words. "Show me what?" But she was already leaning in to him, her chest pressing lightly against his.

He cupped her face between his hands, his mouth hovering above hers, his breath warm against her face as he spoke. "Show you how much better this can be when sober."

It was Zahi who took the initiative first this time around, his lips pressing softly against hers. He lingered against her mouth for a moment before he pulled back, leaving her aching for something more than what he had given her. She would let him do this, though, let him make up for something that she didn't even hold against him. He came in for another kiss, the pressure of this one more intense than the last. Placing her hands on his chest, she curled her fingers into his shirt, pulling him closer to her as she rested her weight against the door. Her mouth caressed his as they both shifted, the kiss deepening as the minutes passed. It was intimate and gentle, leaving her wanting him more and more.

His hands fell away from her face, and he disengaged his lips from hers, placing them against her cheek in a quick kiss before he stepped away from her. She stared at him, lost. She removed her hands from the fabric of his shirt, wondering why he had stopped.

"Goodnight, Vanessa." Zahi smiled at her, walking backwards as he continued to move away from her.

"No... Come inside, Zahi," she murmured to him, licking her lips, still feeling the pressure of his mouth on hers.

"Not tonight."

"You owe me..." She sighed softly, realizing that tonight... She would not have him, but from the way he looked at her, the swirling and lustful glaze in his unfathomable eyes, she knew she would soon.

"What do I owe?"

She gave him her best innocent look, her lips pulled into a pout, an air of vulnerability surrounding her as she rested her head against the door. "An orgasm." She opened the door, stepping into the house while still watching his stunned face, the door slowly shutting on him.

--

_Vanessa knew this woman. She knew it in her heart, her soul, in her loose memory, she _knew_ who this woman was that was reaching out to her, a pleading look in her gaze. Behind the woman, the moon was large and bright, and Vanessa could feel the rays wrap around her. _

_It felt like... Catty. Catty and Tianna and Serena... Long gone from her, and she was left alone..._

_The woman who was pleading silently, tears running down her face, her hands rubbing her enlarged belly delicately._

Vanessa moaned softly in her sleep, only the shadows hearing her muffled cry.

--

Jimena groaned, curling up in the bed, her body shuddering to life. Next to her, Collin let out a tiny snore, rolling away from her, and she had never felt so alone. Jimena wasn't a woman prone to tears often, but now, she cried silently. A heaviness settled over her chest.

--

Cassandra shivered beneath the pale moonlight beaming through her bedroom window. She leaned her hands on the cracked sill, leaning out and feeling the night air on her pale skin. Why was Zahi so stupid? She glared up at the moon.

"This is all your fault," she yelled at the round object, feeling silly for screaming at a piece of rock in space.


End file.
